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In China, cigarettes are a kind of miracle drug
Two-thirds of Chinese men are smokers, and surveys show that as many as 90 per cent believe their habit has little effect on their health, or is good for them.
That's just awesome...
“Quitting smoking would bring you misery, shortening your life.�
Power to the people, yo!
On some days, as many as 25 to 30 condors soar over the canyon area — more birds than were in existence a generation ago when officials decided to capture and breed them.
Peter Forsberg wants to return to the Colorado Avalanche if a proposed salary cap doesn't make him too expensive for the club, his agent says.
Well, it's been nice having him around...
An Illinois woman who stopped to help a family of ducks cross Interstate 90/39 on Wednesday morning ended up in the hospital after she was hit by a car and thrown 60 feet.
A motorcyclist captured on film by German police racing at 251 km per hour (155 mph) on a road near Berlin has set a new unofficial national record for speeding, Bild newspaper reported on Monday.
He'd better watch out for ducks at that speed!
British Medical Experts Campaign for Long, Pointy Knife Control
The researchers noted that the rate of violent crime in Britain rose nearly 18 percent from 2003 to 2004, and that in the first two weeks of 2005, 15 killings and 16 nonfatal attacks involved stabbings. In an unusual move for a scholarly work, the researchers cited a January headline from The Daily Express, a London tabloid: "Britain is in the grip of knives terror - third of murder victims are now stabbed to death." Dr. Hern said that "we came up with the idea and tossed it into the pot" to get people talking about crime reduction. "Whether it's a sensible solution to this problem or not, I'm not sure."
While I am generally on the more "liberal" side of the gun control issue than some of my friends (because guns scare the boogers out of me), start talking about grinding the tip off my Wüstofs and I'll start talking about a revolution. Nevermind the knives I own that are actually meant to be considered "weapons"...
This quote succinctly sums up the total amount of silliness, I think:
Peter Hamm, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which supports gun control, joked, "Can sharp stick control be far behind?"
Yes, that's a gun control advocate making fun of the idea of restricting freedoms. Go ahead and bask in that for a while.
Matt posted the screaming dad MP3. That thing captures a hidden aspect of New England culture that is hard for outsiders (like me) to handle in person. With enough distance, however, it's friggin' hilarious.
Good parody rules. Check this comic strip take on certain incredibly ridiculous (IMHO) current affairs.
Artists concerned tattoos losing nonconformist lure
Long-time tattoo photographer Charles Gatewood of San Francisco said: "It (tattooing) is so popular that it has lost some of its magic. It was like a club, a secret society and family. Now it's gotten commercialized, co-opted and watered down ... in the opinion of some people."
I've never understood this kind of "mainstream == lame" mentality that is so... well... mainstream among so many so-called "subcultures".
Tattoos are "cool" (and will always be so) if they mean something to the person wearing the ink.
End of story.
Careful How You Monkey With DNA
Embryonic stem cells have the ability to differentiate into any type of cell in the human body. Incorporating these highly morphological cells into an animal embryo or brain opens up amazing scientific possibilities and unthinkable ethical quandaries, such as a human brain trapped in a mouse's body, or a human baby with mice for parents.
No scientist working with chimeras apparently wishes to create such nightmarish animals. But just to be on the safe side, the National Academies made chimeras a prominent part of a larger report outlining guidelines for embryonic stem-cell research.
The guidelines, which are voluntary, say scientists should never implant human embryonic stem cells into non-human primates, such as chimpanzees.
And while we're getting all Island of Doctor Moreau up in here, there's this, too: 'Merman' spotted in Caspian
Police fear retaliatory attack, vow crackdown on gangs
Police Chief Michael Chitwood said he is boosting patrols in anticipation of a retaliatory attack following the shooting Tuesday of a 58-year-old Denmark man at the Portland Tattoo Shop. The bullet grazed the victim's groin before passing through his leg.
Police believe the shooting was a premeditated attack by members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang on a group believed to be allied with Hell's Angels.
As H.B. says in the latest Soxaholix strip, "... motorcycle gangs? The Outlaws? The Hells Angels? Hello 1970!"
Seriously, though, once your "organization" has gone global enough to include a 58-year-old Dane as an associate, don't you think you should move on from shooting people and dealing meth? I mean, there's "keeping it old school" and "being in touch with your roots" and then there's "being stuck in the Stone Age"...
Pelicans found with slashed pouches What kind of psychotic fuck would mutilate friggin' pelicans?! I can imagine some jackass maybe killing the birds, but damaging them in a way that would cause a slow, miserable death deserves a flogging.
This is amazing. The Idaho House has passed a bill commending the creators of "Napoleon Dynamite".
12 WHEREAS, the Preston High School administration and staff, particularly 13 the cafeteria staff, have enjoyed notoriety and worldwide attention; and 14 WHEREAS, tater tots figure prominently in this film thus promoting Idaho's 15 most famous export; and 16 WHEREAS, the friendship between Napoleon and Pedro has furthered 17 multiethnic relationships; and 18 WHEREAS, Uncle Rico's football skills are a testament to Idaho athletics; 19 and 20 WHEREAS, Napoleon's bicycle and Kip's skateboard promote better air qual- 21 ity and carpooling as alternatives to fuel-dependent methods of transporta- 22 tion;
And then the capper:
2 WHEREAS, any members of the House of Representatives or the Senate of the 3 Legislature of the State of Idaho who choose to vote "Nay" on this concurrent 4 resolution are "FREAKIN' IDIOTS!" and run the risk of having the "Worst Day of 5 Their Lives!"
Yessssssssss!
Citing academic difficulty as his reason, Bourque told coach Jack Parker Friday that he was withdrawing from the university. Bourque, a forward who was taken in the second round of the 2004 NHL draft by the Washington Capitals, said he will play for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Moncton Wildcats in the 2005-06 season.
Boo!
I mean ferchristsake, it's not like there's even professional hockey to look forward to right now. You'd think the kid might could use a friggin' education.
Men accused of tattooing vulgar phrase on teen's forehead arrested
Authorities have jailed two men after they allegedly held down a teenager and tattooed an obscene phrase onto his forehead.
Police in Norwich, N.Y., about 60 miles south of Syracuse, wouldn't identify the phrase, saying only that it was vulgar and offensive.
I'm guessing it was a three-letter epithet for a homosexual, but I could be wrong. The NY Post says the tattoo "is an extremely obscene phrase and a diagram." A "phrase" is more than a "word", so I'm probably not guessing right.
Random links
Read MoreMinnesota school shooter was into the Nazi thing.
Read MoreYes, they are a notorious bunch. I hereby offer a couple more exhibits for the evidence pile: First is a somewhat whiney account from a freshly exposed youngster who thinks she's been around long enough to have an authoritative opinion: Massholes
Yes, the popular term is “Masshole,� but that’s something of a misnomer. You see, the trouble with Boston drivers is not really that they’re jerks on the road—I’ve driven alongside my share of New York cabbies and asphalt cowboys. Boston drivers are a different breed. Their driving wavers somewhere between oblivious and schizophrenic. They stop dutifully in the left lane at a stoplight because that’s the lane they were driving in—even though there’s nobody in the other lane. They fade between lanes with no semblance of purpose—or sometimes even intention. I’ve driven in front of buses at night that had no lights on. More than once, someone has tried to merge in from the right—right into my passenger door.
That’s the thing. Boston drivers aren’t bad, they’re scary. Congratulations, folks: you frighten me.
This is fairly typical stuff, especially for someone who has been in the area less than, say, five years.
More damning, however is this bit about Boston cabbies not wearing seatbelts — because they don't have to!!
Published in today's Annals of Emergency Medicine, the survey by Fernandez and other BMC emergency room doctors found that of 250 taxi drivers observed during a four-day period last June, only 17 were properly belted in. The doctors stationed observers throughout the city where cabs are common, to note and record whether the driver was wearing a seat belt.
Industry lobbyists pushed for the exclusion from the seat belt law back in the late 1980s, saying that being strapped in was inconvenient for cabdrivers, who frequently get in and out of their vehicle.
The mind boggles. How did the cabbies get the exemption? Well, they argued that the belt would slow them down too much considering how often they get in and out of their cars to load/unload luggage and such. Oh, and since they mostly drive in the city at speeds under 30 mph, a seatbelt would be silly anyway.
Yeah right. Show any cabbie in any town two blocks of open road and I bet they'll get to 60 in no time. Time is money and speed equals time.
Trackers Kill Tiger in Ventura County
The decision by government trackers to use high-powered rifles instead of tranquilizer darts to bring down the elusive cat outraged animal rights activists. But state officials said they had no alternative but to shoot to kill, because the animal could have attacked or bolted onto a highway or into a public park nearby.
I agree with Tippi Hedren, though... They could have at least tried sedating it first with the big guns at the ready.
I just want them to string up whomever brought the cat to suburbia in the first place.
In case a home invasion/robbery isn't exciting enough for the soccer moms... Last night we were disturbed by (at least) a pair of police helecopters (or maybe they were just news choppers, don't really know) hovering over our whitebread 'hood like we we suddenly in Compton or something. While it was fun for me to watch the flyboys zoom around — they were a lot higher than I expected considering our walls were shaking, it was more than a little creepy overall.
Turns out some ass was trying to shake Johnny Law in a car chase that went right around our neck of the woods.
I can think of a handful of possible locations for that sign the police officer ran into. All of them are within maybe a mile of my house.
Newspaper Ad Leads To Home Invasion, Robbery
James Reynolds told investigators that around 8:30 p.m. three gunmen burst into his apartment at the Cascade Village complex in Westminster and staged a take-over style robbery. They bound him and then took off with a lot of his electronic equipment, including a plasma TV that he had advertised for sale in the newspaper, Westminster police said.
When the robbers fled, Reynolds freed himself of his restraints, ran to a neighbor's apartment for help and called police. He told investigators that he recognized one of the attackers as a prospective buyer whom he had invited into his apartment and shown his TV to earlier in the day.
The North Denver suburbs are becoming more and more like a soap opera every day.
The folks at Engadget might just have a point when they say maybe he should have used eBay...
States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile
And that saves him almost $300 a month in gas. It's great for Just but bad for the roads he's driving on, because he also pays a lot less in gasoline taxes which fund highway projects and road repairs. As more and more hybrids hit the road, cash-strapped states are warning of rough roads ahead.
This stuff makes me batty.
Here in Colorado, we've had a drought going for the past several years. Of course, all the powers that be tell us we have to conserve water — even going so far as to start up police patrols to ticket people who water their lwans on the wrong days. Then what happens? Well, the water people lose revenue and have to raise water rates!
It's like nobody is thinking about the consequences of conservation. I mean, really. Conservation means consuming less. That's going to cost someone some money. The "powers that be" need to think about these things before it becomes an issue.
Reactionary Big Brother shenanigans are not a proper incentive for beneficial (and important) behavior changes.
Yesterday, the commuter rail engineer told T police he saw the students through the darkness at around 1 a.m. when they were about 50 feet in front of him, as his train hurtled inbound from Worcester at 50 miles per hour. At that speed, a train takes a half-mile to stop. He did not have time to hit either the horn or the brakes, said the engineer, who was not identified and has been operating T commuter trains since 1991.
"It's the worst part of the job without question, and I think every engineer will agree with that," said Walter Nutter, a T engineer who has hit and killed three people over his 32-year career. He now leads a counseling team for engineers involved in similar incidents.
It may be exagerated in my memory, but it seems like BU kids get killed by the T almost every year. Usually it's because the new crop of freshmen assume the Green Line trolleys will actually stop at the crosswalks.
Crawling through a hole in the fence to hang out in an active rail yard is just asking for trouble of numerous possible descriptions, if you ask me.
